METOD – MetaTool for Educational Platform Design Mateja Verlič University of Maribor Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Contents About project METOD paradigm Adaptive learning in METOD Data collection Supporting technologies MetaTool  Meta-information  User interface

About project Leonardo da Vinci programme Motivation:  Lack of adaptiveness of current Learning management systems  Static platforms  Ease of knowledge transfer  Lack of support for special groups of people (elderly, vision and hearing impaired...)

METOD paradigm 1/2 Enabling educators to:  Develop computerized educational platforms  Supporting individual educational and training approaches  Experiment with various platforms and innovative educational methods with ease  Supporting and accelerating creativity Educators:  Teachers  Non-professional educators (parents, family members) Self-adaptation

METOD paradigm 2/2 Long term aim: improve the skills and competence of people by the integration of new computer supported educational platforms Paradigm is:  Collection of theoretical and practical findings  Providing repository of: various training environments description of trainees' characteristics possible pedagogical goals different pedagogical and communication strategies

Adaptive learning in METOD 1/ Considering:  Various styles of learning – learning through: seeing, listening, moving, doing and touching  Different student types and skill levels: Basic Intermediate Advanced  Different learning paths

Adaptive learning in METOD  Preferred learing styles  Learning theories  Learning and teaching methods, approaches, processes  Life-span learning

Data collection Direct feedback:  Surveys  Questionnaires  Polls  Grades Indirect feedback  Observing use of LMS resources  Observing use of tools

Supporting technologies Analysis and evaluation of collected data User classification and student types Prediction of user’s behavior Suggested learning path  Predefined paths  Effective path by other users Suggested links of alternative learning styles and levels Intelligent behavior  Data-mining  Machine learning - Multimetod approach

MetaTool Meta-tool = Tool of tools Output of MetaTool = input to LMS Customizable multi-user type support Input of MetaTool:  Topics  Materials  Meta-information  Collected data from LMS

MetaTool meta-information Why meta?  Information about using materials Not part of the material  User types  Learning styles  Suggested learning path Teacher defined Machine generated Possibility of peer review

MetaTool user interface Basic user interface:  Parents  Other family members  Learners  Wizard-based creation of courses Advanced user interface:  Skilled professional teachers

User interface

Defining topics

Assigning materials to topics

Output of MetaTool SCORM package  Standard for exchange of e-learning units between LMSs  Compatibility support Only static structure  Additional integration of meta-information Enabling dynamic content  Add-on module for LMS needed Static web pages Moodle package

Add-on for LMS Data collection module Machine learning module  On-line machine learning Statistics Minor adjustment of the learning path  Off-line machine learning Better analysis More processing resources available Can be peer reviewed Inference module  Application of extracted knowledge

Advantages of METOD Adaptiveness on different levels Integration of learning theories and intelligent systems Accessibility  Support for people with special needs Support for life-long learning MetaTool - not limited to single LMS

Disadvantages of METOD Adaptiveness  User does not get the same learning path every time Can be confusing for adult users Can be overridden (predefined static view of the content) LMS module needed for intelligent support Additional effort for teacher

Current status of METOD Currently in active development phase First user-feedbacks Expected deployment at the end of the year Not yet publicly available

Summary Advantages > disadvanatges Why?  Less effort needed for learner  Alternative materials and learning paths More interresting?  Improving the quality of learning process  Next logical step in LMS development

Thank you! Questions?